S'mores Lumpia

• Ingredients
• 
  
• 1 quart canola oil
• 1 egg
• 3 (1.55 ounce) milk chocolate bars
• 10 egg roll wrappers
• 1 cup marshmallow fluff
• 2 pieces graham crackers 
• caramel or chocolate sauce (optional)

Directions

                                                   Preparations

In a deep pot, heat oil to 380 degrees F

In a small bowl, beat egg.  Set aside, this will be used as an egg wash.

Cut chocolate into small pieces

Time to wrap that lumpia!

 Take an egg roll wrapper and brush edges with egg wash

Place marshmallow fluff diagonally on wrapper

Add chocolates

Fold corner over filling; roll snugly half-way to cover filling

Fold up both sides snugly against filling

 Make a little pull or tuck to keep the roll right

 Then roll away from you and press to seal tightly

 Take care not to tear the egg roll wrapper. This can cause roll to leak while cooking. If tear occurs, pinch dough together until it reseals or discard wrap and use a new one

Roll over flap to seal; lay flapside down until ready to cook

Meanwhile...

Crush graham crackers in a resealable bag. Set aside.

It's frying time!

Fry egg rolls, turning almost immediately, cooking on all sides to just golden brown, less than a minute. Make sure not to overcook filling (if you see marshmallows start to ooze out before both sides are golden, filling will be overcooked and egg roll will appear hollow inside). Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and repeat until all cooked.

Voila!

When ready to serve, drizzle with caramel sauce and dust with graham cracker crumbs

Serve immediately, but caution very hot!

After 10 long months...

My favorite TV show, Pushing Daisies is back on air tonight and I couldn’t be more excited. I have prayed long and hard for this show to avoid the wrath of TV cancellations and to come back for Season 2, with more episodes. My prayers have been answered, obviously. And thanks to the Gods of TV heaven, lonely people like me can once again have their weekly dose of Ned and Chuck’s creepy relationship.

If you have no idea what the hell I’m talking about, you can check out abc.go.com. Click on “full episodes” on the top left corner then look for Pushing Daisies.

You will find the show funny, weird and creepy…kinda like me! (which is probably why I like the show a lot). It is also well written and visually appealing (very colorful like Amelie, Big fish and Moulin Rouge). Did I mention the main character Ned is adorable and dorky hot? In a pie shell nutshell, the show is just overall great.

Chicken Tikka Masala

I’m very fond of Indian food and every so often I crave me some chicken tikka masala. Unfortunately, since I live in the boonies, there are no Indian restaurants around here that you can go to when you don’t feel like driving to the city. Fortunately for me (since I have too much time on my hands) I have stumbled upon this good recipe online. It is easy to make and just as good as any Indian restaurants, if not better.

The list of ingredients maybe long but don’t let it intimidate you, it is really not complicated to make. And the spices listed below can be easily found in any grocery stores. You can even tweak the recipe a little bit to suit your own taste.

CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA
INGREDIENTS

Marinade

1 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala (Lucky’s has this)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (add more if you like it extra hot)
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut each breast in half (horizontally) for easy frying.

 Sauce

1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (chop more if you like it mucho caliente)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 pint heavy cream
fresh cilantro for garnishing


DIRECTIONS
Simply follow these step-by-step directions. I usually talk to an invisible audience while I do these, like I'm in some kind of a Food Network Show. *Talking to an invisible audience is optional.


In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, garam masala, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and salt.

Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight (for a better marinade).

When it is ready:


Lightly oil a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and fry it until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side. Make sure the chicken is not overcooked or undercooked.

Transfer to a cutting board and cut the chicken into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

You are now ready for the sauce


In a large heavy skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute.

Stir in the cumin, paprika, garam masala and salt.

Add the tomato sauce and heavy cream, stirring constantly. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Taste the sauce and season with salt if necessary.

Stir in the chicken and simmer for 10 minutes.

Voila! Your chicken tikka masala is done!

Transfer to a serving platter and garnish with fresh cilantro.
Best served with basmati rice and/or naan bread (flat bread or pita bread will do if you can’t find naan)

Friday night baseball

At the AT&T Park

San Francisco Giants vs. L.A Dodgers (booo)

My favorite player, Barry Bonds. He sucked last night :(

Giants scored 1 in the 2nd inning and 2 in the 5th. Unfortunately, Dodgers made a homerun in the 7th inning and scored another 2 in the 9th. So yeah, Giants lost 4-3.

That's ok. Win or lose we're still fabulous.

Go Giants!!

Napa Valley

Robert Mondavi Winery

I don't know the story behind this statue, but I'm guessing it's of Mrs. Mondavi; strutting her stuff while in a drunken stupor.

I saw this pic floating around blogland. Check out the Pope's shoes. The color doesn't bother me (eventhough it's bright red and looks tacky with his white and gold vestment) but do they have to be Prada? And guess what? Prada shoes are not the only luxe item this ex Nazi has a penchant for. Check out this funny article: http://www.somareview.com/redhotpapa.cfm

Life is ...hard... lonely... boring... shitty... but worth living because no matter what, there is something good that will come out of it.

photo courtesy of postsecret

Everyone's lives are connected. Our actions affect other people whether we realize it or not.

Wow so many interesting people to meet, so many places to go to, so many things to explore.. so many possibilities. I'm loving life right now thats all I'm gonna say.

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is peace on earth. If that's not possible this year then a pair of Manolo Blahnik will do. Please note that I wear a size 6.5 and would prefer the ones with pointy toe and no heels.

P.S.
There will be cookies and milk for you if you throw in a Chanel handbag. Thanks in advance.


Love,
Little Desi

thanksgiving dinner with my family

we do this before we eat (for easy digestion)

amen

we like meat. theres white meat, red meat and the other white meat

International House Of Rice...

notice the absence of fruits and veggies, garnishes don't count and that blob of cranberry sauce don't count either

my dad calls this dish "killing me softly on a stick", cos it will give you a heartattack just by looking at it. :D

saturday's soiree

my first crack at hosting a dinner party

~the tablescape~

nothing too fancy

~dishes i served~

prosciutto and smoked salmon

shrimp cocktails

chicken sopas (i cheated and asked my mom to make it for me)

baby greens with goat cheese, mangoes, dried cranberries with raspberry & orange poppy seed dressings

chicken a la des (my own recipe) with parmesan stringbeans and sugared carrots over pilaf rice

flank steak with peppercorn sauce over garlic butter noodles ( i got this recipe off the foodnetwork.com)

and for dessert: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries with hazel nut syrup and mascarpone cheese on top.

My guests ate every dish with great gusto, especially my mom's sopas. Fortunately none of them suffered from food poisoning after consuming the food i actually cooked (much to my relief haha) . Thank you guys for coming and double thanks for helping me clean up after the party.

As Martha Stewart would say "It's a good thing".